Sources tell TSN the New York Rangers and Calgary Flames are expected to announce a trade tonight that will send Calgary centre Olli Jokinen and forward Brandon Prust to the Rangers in exchange for forwards Ales Kotalik and Christopher Higgins.

I haven't watched many Rangers, but there is no way Kotalik and Higgins could be worse than Jokinen.

Dude, trust me...those two are two of the most useless players in the entire NHL. While I understand that Jokinen's season has been frustrating and that he's been a disappointment he's still a friggin Ovechkin compared to the two you're getting.

If you seriously think that they can't be worse than Jokinen you're unfortunately in for a rude awekening.

As a Sabres fan with the Flames as my solid #2 team, I'm somewhat pleased to see Big Al land on one of my teams again. The guy is absolutely phenomenal in shootouts, and is a pretty good special teams player, but is extremely streaky in 5 on 5 play. He's got a hell of a shot and great size, but he doesn't always use it, and is known to take shifts and even entire games off. You'll like what you see on special teams and shootouts, but don't expect much in 5 on 5. Can't really tell you about his stints in Edmonton and New York, but Al was always a guy you could count on to get 15 goals and help you in a few shootouts but that's it. Overall he'd just frustrate most of us as a guy we knew could do better but just didn't.

As far as Higgins goes, when he was on the Habs he was pretty confident when he started off. As the seasons went on, you could literally see his confidence dwindling until he had none left and didn't even make a difference on the 4th line anymore. Completely invisible except when missing an open net on a play by better 4th liners.

From what I've watched of him in NY, he was no different there. I haven't checked his stats in a while and they are higher than I remember so maybe he slightly broke out of it but don't except much from him.

That would mean Kotalik (was rumoured to TBL) and SOMETHING could go to TBL for Vinny. This deal makes no sense unless it is to make CAP space, and lets hope that is what it is, IF IT EVER GOES THROUGH.

The New York Rangers and Calgary Flames were talking trade Sunday night but it wasn't clear whether their tentative deal would go through.

Two sources close to the tentative deal told ESPN.com that the Rangers were ready to ship forwards Chris Higgins and Ales Kotalik to the Flames in exchange for center Olli Jokinen and rugged winger Brandon Prust. But the deal was still not fully ironed out as of late Sunday night.

Higgins, Kotalik and Jokinen have all disappointed this season and would get fresh starts with the deal if it went through. Higgins and Jokinen are slated for unrestricted free agency July 1, while Kotalik has two more years on his contract after this season paying him $3 million in each year. Prust will also be a free agent at the end of the year.

The Rangers have been looking for a center to play with superstar winger Marian Gaborik all season long.

The Flames were busy Sunday, also completing a seven-player swap with the Toronto Maple Leafs. If the Rangers deal went through, the Flames overall Sunday would be acquiring five forwards and a defenseman.

To everyone saying we have extra forwards now... I don't see it. Traded 1 roster forward to Toronto for 3. That's 2 extra regulars. Traded 2 to NYR for 2, a wash. Lundmark and Backlund are AHL callups who will inevitably be sent down sooner than later. McGrattan can be a healthy scratch half the time, and at any given time 2-3 forwards will be injured, like right now.

On a positive note, Sutter has a better track record in finding average or even bad players that become impact players in Calgary, like Bourque and Huselius. When we traded for those guys, fans of both teams were surprised they got anything at all. On the other hand, guys like Tanguay and Jokinen haven't done so well. Maybe accumulating a bunch of average forwards is for the best.

Unless Higgins just needs a change of scenery and can pick his play back up to the 20 goal scorer he used to be, than he's relatively useless. Like the other Ranger poster said before, expect to hear alot of shooting wide, and taking bad angle shots right to the middle of the oppositions goaltender.

Kotalik... oh boy... useless 5 on 5, terrible +/-, only has a good shot on the PP, but that's about it. And that's assuming he's not under pressure.

I don't know much about Prust, but it seems like alot of Calgary fans are upset to lose him.

And with Jokinen, if he doesn't pan out with the Rangers, we can walk away.

I do feel for you guys and would assume you have something bigger coming your way in the near future.

Unless Higgins just needs a change of scenery and can pick his play back up to the 20 goal scorer he used to be, than he's relatively useless. Like the other Ranger poster said before, expect to hear alot of shooting wide, and taking bad angle shots right to the middle of the oppositions goaltender.

Kotalik... oh boy... useless 5 on 5, terrible +/-, only has a good shot on the PP, but that's about it. And that's assuming he's not under pressure.

I don't know much about Prust, but it seems like alot of Calgary fans are upset to lose him.

And with Jokinen, if he doesn't pan out with the Rangers, we can walk away.

I do feel for you guys and would assume you have something bigger coming your way in the near future.

Prust is a great scrapper and actually an really good skater. Great energy guy.

Just saw that one. Not sure how serious that is, but Roy is much more valuable than that, he's easily a 60 point player, and I just don't see the Sabres and Flames as good trade partners. That and we'd never take Al back this soon.

Confusing for sure. Higgins is younger, a former 1st round pick, and was pretty decent until the last two years. Kotalik not so much but of the two he was scoring more on less ice time. But -18 on under 14 minutes TOI???
I thought Oli might be on the way out but there is no forward on the current club I would sit down to accomodate either of these guys. Kotalik was not bad for the Oilers last season but right now his value is rock bottom. Can't wait to hear Sutter on this one.

That would mean Kotalik (was rumoured to TBL) and SOMETHING could go to TBL for Vinny. This deal makes no sense unless it is to make CAP space, and lets hope that is what it is, IF IT EVER GOES THROUGH.

Ya man, Sutter is not an idiot. He must have something like this up his sleeve. Meanwhile, he's gonna take some heat from people who can't see the big move coming. Whatever.